Celebrate at the fair

Posted: October 20, 2010 - 12:02am

The sixth annual St. Johns County Agricultural Fair is under way at the fairgrounds in Elkton and the call is out, "y'all come."

Through Sunday, St. Johns County will celebrate its agricultural heritage that goes back before Spanish conquerors landed to claim it in 1565. Native tribes were already tilling the land, living off the crops and animals and fish within their own communities before settlers and explorers arrived.

Our county fair -- one of the state's 50 official county fairs -- celebrates our agricultural heritage and the economic impact it has on our community.

Worth knowing we think, as you walk around the fairgrounds, is that St. Johns County is an agricultural center for the state. It is the state's leading producer of potatoes and cabbage with nearly 25,000 acres in production.

In addition, many more edible crops are grown in smaller numbers and farms continue to breed livestock for food, too.

Also, timber, horticulture products, including flowers, ornamental trees, plants and turf grass, are part of the county's agricultural network.

In fact, the University of Florida shows an economic impact for the county for agriculture and natural resource industries to be more than $171 million annually. Thousands of jobs are rooted in agriculture in this county and then there are the countless other jobs related to production and distribution of our agricultural products annually.

So whether it is the bright lights of the midway or the heritage of the land, we encourage you to enjoy the St. Johns County Agricultural Fair this week. Bring your family and friends, too. You will be glad you did.

Let's all meet at the fair.

For information

For more about the fair, check the fair schedule running daily in The St. Augustine Record and online at www.staugustine.com.